Carlton Football Club

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**Carlton**

Full name	Carlton Football Club
Nickname	The Blues
Strip	Navy blue guernsey with white monogram, navy blue shorts and socks
Founded	1864
Sport	Australian rules football
League	Australian Football League
Ground	Telstra Dome/MCG
Club song	We Are The Navy Blues
President/Chair	Graham Smorgon
Coach	Denis Pagan
Captain	Anthony Koutoufides
2005	16th of 16

The Carlton Football Club is one of the oldest and most successful Australian rules football clubs. Representing the Melbourne inner city area of Carlton, the club is nicknamed The Blues for their navy blue playing colours, and has an insignia of the club consisting of three alphabetical letters - CFC superimposed on each other.

[edit] Club history

[edit] Early history

Formed in A.D.1864, it originally played in the Victorian Football Association competition, and was one of the formation members of the breakaway Victorian Football League in 1897. It became part of the Australian Football League in the 1980s.

[edit] The First of Many

Carlton got into its first VFL grand final in the year of 1904. Two years later in 1906, it was to be the first of five consecutive grand finals. The first three were all premierships and Carlton became the first team in the history of the VFL/AFL to win three-in-a-row. These glory years became famously known as 'The First of Many'. The fourth grand final made Carlton the closest team to attempt to win four-in-a-row, as it was narrowly beaten by just 2 points to South Melbourne (now Sydney Swans) in 1909. Had it not been for the political trouble that plagued the club early in the season, the result could well have been different. However, this remarkable feat was subsequently surpassed during the 1920's Depression by the club's greatest rival - Collingwood (which became famous as 'The Machine') in 1927-30. In Carlton's fifth grand final in 1910, they contested unsuccessfully against Collingwood, and this was the beginning of something that would endure for more than one hundred years and became famous as 'The Rivalry'.

[edit] Recent history

Former Carlton Logo

In recent times the club has not had on-field success and has also experienced difficulties in its management board. The development of the game becoming a national league has impacted on Victorian based clubs like Carlton. The consequential rise of powerhouse interstate clubs such as West Coast Eagles, Adelaide Crows, Sydney Swans, Port Adelaide and Brisbane Lions (have collectively won 9 nine premierships since 1992) had their toll on Carlton's success record. The good old days when Carlton could recruit the best players from across this wide brown land no longer sufficed as many of them now play for these interstate clubs. The recruiting mechanism of those players is now vested in an idea called a 'draft pick'...an idea that makes Carlton line up like a poor fellow in a queue at a soup kitchen...begging if you like...to get good footballers to play for them. So Carlton is stuck with a 'welfare' style procedure that limits the club's capacity to recruit to just a player or two a year meaning that it will take forever to build a premiership team. On top of this is another socialist idea...an idea called a 'Salary Cap'...an idea that takes Carlton back to the Cold War...a socialist principle that views all clubs are created equal and it prevented Carlton from paying footballers, good footballers, what they deserved to be paid. A principle that ignored Carlton's success in building premiership teams based on pure capitalist principles that have worked for decades...a principle that supports those no-hopers...teams that have won a meagre single premiership or two in a hundred years, and probably never will win another one...given the strength of the interstate teams. And it all came to a thump in 2002 when this magnificent club landed on the bottom of the ladder for the first time in its history...to win its first glorious wooden spoon as the last of the original VFL teams to do so. The consequences of the leagues' push to build the national competition hit Carlton hard, probably harder than most because Carlton had a formula that worked, and it worked for decades. It no longer does.

The cracks in the walls of power at Carlton soon began to appear. In 2002 the club underwent both off-field and on-field turmoil. Mounting losses and accounting irregularities finally caught up with club under president John Elliott. The club was in trouble with its finances, morale was depleted, old men were taking to the field, champions from the past like Nicholls, Doull, Jesaulenko, Silvagni, Williams and Kernahan...were all gone...there were no champions on the field winning for Carlton anymore. The team went through the entire season without winning a game on its home ground - Optus Oval. Suddenly Carlton was no longer a powerhouse club it once was. Its coach Wayne Brittan, probably the most untried coach in the game's history as he took over a team in 2001 that was on the verge of collapse, financially, talent-wise and morale-wise, had his contract terminated and was replaced by Denis Pagan for the 2003 season. Worse to come was the discovery by the club's new administration that the club had been making extra, secret payments to certain players which breached the AFL salary cap. The club was heavily fined and stripped of top picks in the annual player draft, hampering attempts to rebuild the club's player group. The debacle surrounding president John Elliott resulted him being voted off the board by club members and replaced by Ian Collins.

With his impressive long run of premierships with several clubs at several levels, the appointment of Denis Pagan as senior coach in 2003 was an attempt to turn the club around. The situation of the extent of Carlton's predicament was clearly underestimated as even being one of the best coaches in VFL/AFL history, Pagan was unable to reverse Carlton's football plight in the short term. It became apparent that the existing team simply had to be replaced with youth and this developed into the club's policy to recruit players under 24 years old with the capability to play at least 100 games. It became apparent that the plan to turn the tide at Carlton was going to be a long-term one requiring significant periods of pain as the team is gradually reconstructed with new quality recruits.

At the beginning of 2005, the turnaround seemed a reality after their success in the pre-season Wizard Cup but the club failed to maintain its form for the home-and-away season. Finishing on the bottom of the ladder for just the second time in its proud history it became the second club to win the pre-season/night series competition and the wooden spoon in the same year, with Footscray (now the Western Bulldogs) having done so in 1967.

The season 2006 saw Carlton win back-to-back wooden spoons for the first time in its history. At season's end, this lead to widespread unrest within the club whose board had initially voted to terminate Denis Pagan's contract, but subsequently overturned the vote on a second ballot. A group of out-spoken and disgruntled former players who were part of the clean-out a few years earlier, lead by Fraser Brown and Barry Mitchell, wanted to have Pagan replaced by Mitchell (an untried coach of humble standing) as coach for the 2007 season. Brett Ratten was mooted as a replacement coach as well. The board decided to allow Pagan to coach for the next two seasons through to season 2008, which by then the club's growing list of talented young footballers will have matured into seasoned players vested with the task of returning Carlton to where it belongs...the premiership club.

The club became the last of the former VFL clubs to move away from its original home ground when it played its last match at Optus Oval against Melbourne in Round 9 of the 2005 season. Carlton had played at Princes Park for 108 years.

[edit] Present day

The club is based at Princes Park oval (officially known now as MC Labour Park in a sponsorship deal) in northern Carlton. The suburb combines the academic air of the nearby University of Melbourne with a large quotient of immigrants from Southern Europe, and both groups still leave their mark on the Carlton supporter base. In 2004, Carlton President Ian Collins began the process with Vice-President (now president) Graham Smorgon of reviewing Carlton's continued presence at MC Labour Park. It was decided that six home games be played at Telstra Dome (Docklands Stadium) and five at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. A "farewell" game was played at Princes Park on Saturday 21 May in 2005. Despite an overwhelming majority of members voting for the home ground move, it was not altogether popular with all club supporters. Despite this the club achieved record membership levels in 2005. Training and social club facilities at Princes Park remain. There are proposals to redevelop the ground to make it into an elite training facility for the players. Carlton has traditionally been the most powerful on-field club (until recently), boasting winning records over virtually every other club in the competition, including notable rivals such as Collingwood and Essendon. The club currently has the second youngest list in the league behind Hawthorn, but its success recently has been bleak, and in 2006 it won a second consecutive wooden spoon, and while many called for a change in the coaching structure, the club secured Pagan's future after a meeting to decide what would happen to him.

[edit] Rivalry

Carlton players during pre-game warmup

Carlton's fiercest rivals include the other members of the inner-suburban "big four" - Essendon, Richmond, and especially Collingwood. Collingwood's working-class supporter base, close geographic proximity, and many historic on-field (and occasional off-field) tussles mark the rivalry as the strongest in the game.

[edit] Great Grand Finals

1945: The Bloodbath

An infamous battle between Carlton and South Melbourne (now Sydney Swans), in which the game became footbrawl rather than football. It is the most bloodiest and toughest grand final of all time with the reporting and suspension of ten footballers from both teams. Fights went on all day with several players being knocked out, involving umpires, police, trainers, and spectators, all fighting on the field. Princes Park in Melbourne had 63,000 spectators screaming for blood. Carlton won by 28 points with the following ten players being reported:

— Ted Whitfield (South), found guilty and suspended for the entire 1946 season.

— Jack Williams (South), found guilty and suspended for twelve weeks.

— Captain Herbie Matthews (South), found guilty and severely reprimanded.

— Keith Smith (South), found not guilty.

— Don Grossman (South), found guilty and suspended for eight weeks.

— Jim Cleary (South), found guilty and suspended for eight weeks.

— Ken Hands (Carlton), found not guilty.

— Captain Bob Chitty (Carlton), found guilty and suspended for eight weeks.

— Ron Savage (Carlton), found guilty and suspended for eight weeks.

— Fred Fitzgibbon (Carlton), an already suspended player, found guilty and suspended for a further four weeks for running onto the field and joining in numerous brawls.

1970: The Great Comeback

One of the most famous clashes in VFL/AFL history took place at the 1970 Grand Final: the Blues, under the brilliant coaching of legendary Ron Barassi, turned a 44-point half-time deficit into a 10-point victory. It is often said that Barassi invented modern football in his half-time instructions to the Carlton players, screaming at them to concentrate on retaining possession through short kicks and handpassing. This is a considerable exaggeration, as Barassi had been working on the new playing style throughout the 1970 season. This great grand final also featured one of the most famous marks in VFL/AFL history. Towards the end of the second quarter McKay kicked it to the wing and Alex Jesaulenko soared high into the sky and took the grab with his hands out in front of his face. The commentator spoke the infamous words "McKay, to the wing positon, OH JESAULENKO! YOU BEAUTY!"

[edit] Corporate

[edit] Membership base

In 2005, the Carlton Football Club had a record membership of 33,534.

Year	Members	Ladder after Round 22	Final Position
1998	25,402	11th	11th
1999	25,719	6th	2nd
2000	27,571	2nd	3rd
2001	27,735	5th	5th
2002	26,385	16th	16th
2003	33,525	15th	15th
2004	32,445	11th	11th
2005	33,534	16th	16th
2006	28,756*	16th	16th

(*as of 30 June, 2006)

[edit] Presidents

R. McFarland (1864-1865)
Jas. Linacre (1866)
G. Coppin (1867-1872)
J. Walls (1873)
R.Robertson (1874-1885)
A.Gillepie (1886-1894)
F.B.Bromley (1895)
A.H.Shaw (1896-1900)
R.Heatley (1901-1903)
H.B.Higgins (1904)
W.F.Evans (1905-1906)
J.Urquhart (1907-1909
J.McInerney (1910-1911)
D.Bell (1912-1913)
J.Gardiner (1914-1924)
D.Young (1925-1928)
D.H.Crone (1929-1937)
K.G.Luke (1938 1955)
H.R.Clover (1956-1957)
L.J.M.Holmes (1958-1964)
G.H.Harris (1965-1974)
Ivan Rohrt (1975-1977)
George Harris (1978-1979)
Ian Rice (1980-1983)
John Elliott (1983-2002)
Ian Collins (2003-2006)
Graham Smorgon (2006-)

[edit] Records

Premierships:
VFA
2
- 1877, 1887
VFL/AFL
Senior
16
- 1906, 1907, 1908, 1914, 1915, 1938, 1945, 1947, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1995
Reserves
8
- 1926, 1927, 1928, 1951, 1953, 1986, 1987, 1990
Under 19s
6
- 1948, 1949, 1951, 1963, 1978, 1979

Night Series/Pre-Season Premierships:3
- 1983, 1997, 2005

McClelland Trophy5
- 1969, 1979, 1985 (tied), 1987, 1995

Wooden Spoons:3
- 2002, 2005, 2006

[edit] Premiership teams

1995 Premiership Team Defeated Geelong Football Club
B:	Hogg	Silvagni	Sexton
HB:	Christou	Dean	McKay
C:	Koutoufides	Ratten	Hanna
HF:	Rice	Spalding	Clape
F:	Pearce	Kernahan (C)	Williams (NSM)
Foll:	Madden	Bradley	Brown
Int:	Camporeale	Manton	Whitehead

Coach:	David Parkin

1987 Premiership Team Defeated Hawthorn Football Club
B:	Aitken	Silvagni	Glascott
HB:	Alvin	Rhys-Jones (NSM)	Dean
C:	Robertson	Bradley	Kennedy
HF:	Hunter	Kernahan (C)	Dennis
F:	Meldrum	Dorotich	Naley
Foll:	Madden	Johnston	Murphy
Int:	Gleeson	McKenzie

Coach:	Robert Walls

1982 Premiership Team Defeated Richmond Football Club
B:	English	Bortolotto	Perovic
HB:	Klomp	Doull	Hunter
C:	Harmes	Buckley	Glascott
HF:	Bosustow	Maclure	Johnston
F:	Marcou	Ditchburn	McConville
Foll:	Fitzpatrick (C)	Maylin	Ashman
Int:	Jones	Sheldon

Coach:	David Parkin

1981 Premiership Team Defeated Collingwood Football Club
B:	English	Howell	Perovic
HB:	Harmes	Doull (NSM)	Hunter
C:	Maylin	Wells	Glascott
HF:	Bosustow	Maclure	Johnston
F:	Buckley	McKay	McConville
Foll:	Fitzpatrick (C)	Sheldon	Ashman
Int:	Bortolotto	Marcou

Coach:	David Parkin

1979 Premiership Team Defeated Collingwood Football Club
B:	Harmes (NSM)	Southby	McKay
HB:	Klomp	Doull	McConville
C:	Francis	Jesaulenko (C)	Young
HF:	Keogh	Maclure	Johnston
F:	Fitzpatrick	Brown	Sheldon
Foll:	Jones	Armstrong	Buckley
Int:	Austin	Marcou

Coach:	Alex Jesaulenko

1972 Premiership Team Defeated Richmond Football Club
B:	O'Connell	Southby	McKay
HB:	Waite	Doull	Hurst
C:	Robertson	Armstrong	Dickson
HF:	Chandler	Walls	Jackson
F:	Nicholls (C)	Jesaulenko	Keogh
Foll:	Jones	Hall	Gallagher
Int:	Lukas	Crane

Coach:	John Nicholls

The Great Comeback - Carlton's 1970 Premiership Team Defeated Collingwood Football Club
B:	Gill	Hall	Waite
HB:	Goold	McKay	Mulcair
C:	Crane	Robertson	Pinnell
HF:	Crosswell	Walls	Jackson
F:	Jones	Jesaulenko	Thornley
Foll:	Nicholls (C)	Silvagni	Gallagher
Int:	Hopkins	Chandler

Coach:	Ron Barassi

1968 Premiership Team Defeated Essendon Football Club
B:	Collins	Lofts	Walls
HB:	Gill	Goold	Hall
C:	Crane	Crosswell	Robertson
HF:	Jesaulenko	Bennett	Quirk
F:	Munari	Kekovich	Jones
Foll:	Nicholls (C)	Silvagni	Gallagher
Int:	Chandler	McLean

Coach:	Ron Barassi

1947 Premiership Team Defeated Essendon Football Club
B:	Green	Grieve	Bailey
HB:	Brown	Deacon	Clark
C:	Williams	Henfry (C)	Fitzgibbon
HF:	Stafford	Hands	Garby
F:	Davies	Baird	Turner
Foll:	Howell	Bennett	Conley
Int:	Baxter	Greensheilds

Coach:	Perce Bentley

The Bloodbath - Calton's 1945 Premiership Team Defeated South Melbourne Football Club now Sydney Swans Football Club
B:	Sanger	Brown	Baird
HB:	Chitty (C)	Deacon	Clark
C:	Turner	Wines	Williams
HF:	Collins	Hands	Way
F:	McLean	Baxter	Mooring
Foll:	Savage	Bennett	Price
Int:	McInnes

Coach:	Perce Bentley

1938 Premiership Team Defeated Collingwood Football Club
B:	McIntyre	Gill	Park*
HB:	Chitty	Francis	Anderson
C:	Green	Crisp	Carney
HF:	Vallence	Wrout	Schmidt
F:	McLean	Baxter	Price
Foll:	Diggins (C)	Hollingshead	Hale
Int:	McInnes

Coach:	Brighton Diggins. *Note Jim Park was killed in WWII

Another Double - Carlton's 1915 Premiership Team Defeated Collingwood Football Club
B:	O'Brien	Jamieson	McDonald
HB:	Baud (C)	Robinson	Brown
C:	Morris	McGregor	Challis*
HF:	Burleigh	Daykin	Fisher
F:	Green	Gardiner	Sharp
Foll:	Hammond	Haugton	Valetine
Int:

Coach:	N Clark. *Note Challis was killed in WWI

1914 Premiership Team Defeated South Melbourne Football Club now Sydney Swans Football Club
B:	O'Brien	Jamieson	McDonald
HB:	Leehane	Dick (C)	Haughton
C:	Baud	McGregor	Brown
HF:	Lowe	Cook	Daykin
F:	Fisher	Green	Burleigh
Foll:	Calwell	Hammond	Morris
Int:

Coach:	N Clark

The First three-in-a-row in the VFL/AFL Carlton's 1908 Premiership Team - Defeated Essendon Football Club
B:	Clark	Beck	Ford
HB:	Flynn	Payne	Jinks
C:	Bruce	McGregor	Kennedy
HF:	Lang	Marchbank	Gotz
F:	Kelly	Gardiner	Topping
Foll:	Johnson	Hammond	Elliot (C)
Int:

Coach:	Jack Worrall. Note: This was the first premiership team not containing a single first year player.

1907 Premiership Team - Defeated South Melbourne Football Club now Sydney Swans Football Club
B:	Clark	Gillespie	Beck
HB:	Gotz	Flynn (C)	Payne
C:	Bruce	Ingleman	Kennedy
HF:	Jinks	Kelly	Caine
F:	Grace	Topping	Harris
Foll:	Johnson	Hammond	Lang
Int:

Coach:	Jack Worrall

1906 The First of Many - Carlton's First Premiership Team - Defeated Fitzroy Football Club
B:	Clark	Gillespie	Beck
HB:	Payne	Johnson	Hammond
C:	Bruce	McGregor	Kennedy
HF:	Caine	Marchbank	Grace
F:	Lang	Topping	Little
Foll:	Flynn (C)	Jinks	Elliot
Int:

Coach:	Jack Worrall

[edit] Individual records

"Most career goals"
- 738- Stephen Kernahan (1986-1997)
- 722- Harry "Soapy" Vallence
- 444- Alex Jesaulenko
- 444- Robert Walls

"Most career games"
- 375- Craig Bradley
- 356- Bruce Doull
- 331- John Nicholls
- 312- Stephen Silvagni

[edit] Individual awards

[edit] Norm Smith Medal winners

Wayne Harmes (1979)
Bruce Doull (1981)
David Rhys-Jones (1987)
Greg Williams (1995)

[edit] Michael Tuck Medal

Craig Bradley (1997)
Brendan Fevola (2005)

[edit] Coleman Medal winners

Tom Carroll (1961)
Brendan Fevola (2006)

[edit] Mark of the Year winners

[edit] Goal of the Year winners

Peter Bosustow (1981)
Eddie Betts (2006)

[edit] National team representatives (since 2005)

Matthew Lappin (2005, 2006)
Jarrad Waite (2005)
Brendan Fevola (2006)
Kade Simpson (2006)

[edit] Grand Final Sprint

Brendan Fevola (2006)

[edit] Carlton's Ladder Positions 1897-2006

Ladder Position	Year (Finals in Bold)
1st	1906, 1907, 1908, 1914, 1915, 1938, 1945, 1947, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1995
2nd	1904, 1909, 1910, 1916, 1921, 1949, 1962, 1969, 1973, 1986, 1993, 1999
3rd	1903, 1905, 1912, 1917, 1918, 1920, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1941, 1959, 1967, 1976, 1988, 2000
4th	1911, 1919, 1922, 1927, 1928, 1933, 1935, 1936, 1943, 1952, 1957, 1975, 1978, 1980, 1984
5th	1934, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1944, 1953, 1956, 1971, 1983, 1985, 1994
6th	1902, 1913, 1946, 1948, 1926, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1977,1996, 2001
7th	1897, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1923, 1924, 1951, 1955, 1958, 1960, 1974, 1992
8th	1950, 1954, 1961, 1989, 1990
9th	1925
10th	1964
11th	1991, 1997, 1998, 2004
12th	nil
13th	nil
14th	nil
15th	2003
16th	2002, 2005, 2006

(*as of 30 June, 2006)

[edit] Current playing list

As of December 2, 2006:

No.	Position	Player
1	DF	Andrew Walker
2	MF	Jordan Russell
3	MF	Marc Murphy
4	MF	Bryce Gibbs
5	FW	Josh Kennedy
6	MF	Kade Simpson
7	MF	Adam Bentick
8	DF	Lance Whitnall (vice captain)
9	DF	Jason Saddington
10	MF	Dylan McLaren
12	DF	Matthew Lappin
13	MF	Luke Blackwell
14	FW	Brad Fisher
15	DF	David Teague
16	MF	Shaun Grigg
17	DF	Setanta O'hAilpin
18	DF	Paul Bower
19	FW	Eddie Betts
20	DF	Clint Benjamin
21	DF	Mark Austin
22	MF	Shaun Hampson
23	DF	Adam Hartlett
24	MF	Nick Stevens

No.	Position	Player
25	FW	Brendan Fevola
26	DF	Joe Anderson
29	MF	Heath Scotland
30	FW	Jarrad Waite
31	DF	Jordan Bannister
32	DF	Bret Thornton
33	DF	Ryan Houlihan
34	FW	Simon Wiggins
35	DF	Anthony Raso
37	FW	Jake Edwards
38	MF	Ryan Jackson
42	DF	Craig Flint
43	MF	Anthony Koutoufides (captain)
44	DF	Andrew Carrazzo
45	MF	Aisake O'hAilpin

[edit] Team of the Century

Carlton Team of the Century
B:	Bruce Comben	Stephen Silvagni	Geoff Southby
HB:	John James	Bert Deacon	Bruce Doull
C:	Garry Crane	Greg Williams	Craig Bradley
HF:	Wayne Johnston	Stephen Kernahan (Captain)	Alex Jesaulenko
F:	Ken Hands	Harry Vallence	Rod Ashman
Foll:	John Nicholls	Sergio Silvagni	Adrian Gallagher
Int:	Robert Walls	Mike Fitzpatrick	Ken Hunter
	Trevor Keogh
Coach:	David Parkin

Four emergencies were also named: Laurie Kerr, Bob Chitty, Horrie Clover and Rod McGregor.

[edit] Club jumper

The current jumper design consists of a navy blue backing, CFC monogram and AFL logo on front, and bold white numbers on back. The club's current major sponsors are Optus, Dan Murphy's and Nike. For home games, the Dan Murphys sponsoring is displayed on the front, while Yes Optus sponsoring is beneath the player numbers on the back. The sponsors change positions when the club is playing away.

In April 2006, the club announced a "clash" jumper in accordance to the AFL's request that each club have an alternative jumper to be worn against other clubs in similar design. The jumper, although not yet deemed official, consists of inverted colours from the regular home season outfit, complimented by blue stripes on the sides.